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Irish Examiner
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Pornography 'in children's pockets and in their bedrooms' and 'finding them when they go online'
Pornography is 'in children's pockets and in their bedrooms', and is presenting itself to children online without them having to go looking for it, according to the chief executive of Women's Aid. Sarah Benson was speaking ahead of a two-day strategic convention on the issue, beginning on Thursday in Athlone. The event, organised by Women's Aid and the Community Foundation of Ireland, will examine how society can reduce and prevent the harms of pornography 'on gender equality, healthy sexual development and online safety'. Ms Benson said Women's Aid commissioned a Red C survey in 2022 on public attitudes around pornography. 'We further commissioned a piece of research which was undertaken by the Sexual Exploitation Research and Policy Institute which was published in November of last year.' That research found much of what features in mainstream pornography constitutes sexual violence, including the strangling of women during sex. Ms Benson said pornography could 'no longer remain the elephant in the room', adding it is a multi-billion euro 'broadly unregulated industry' which 'is on every smartphone, is on every social media app, in children's pockets and in their bedrooms, it is in the bedrooms of young people and adults alike, coming between positive sexual intimacy'. She warned: 'We now have the rise of AI and deep fake, so online safety, gender equality, sexual violence, healthy sexuality, children's exposure — it [pornography] is in too many spaces and places. "This is us convening, in a closed session, a wide group of experts who work on many different things but have that one thread of shared concern. Together, what we hope to be able to arrive at is some sort of strategy for action, whereby we can bring that to the general public, perhaps bring it to legislation. We are not talking about children accessing Pornhub — we are talking about porn finding them when they go online. We have to assume that they will be exposed to it, and not hope that they won't. She said a platform for action was what was now needed to tackle the harmful impact. Current gender adviser to the G7 and former tánaiste and MEP Frances Fitzgerald will chair the event. More than 50 delegates will include representatives from a range of areas including domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, men's leadership and development, children's rights and children's safety, education, online safety, consent programmes, youth organisations, migrant rights agencies and researchers.
Irish Times
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Lack of interest among reasons people did not vote in general election
A lack of interest in politics, indecision and a belief a person's vote does not matter were among factors cited in a new survey by registered voters who did not cast their ballot in last November's general election. The results of the survey conducted by Red C on behalf of An Coimisiún Toghcháin (the Electoral Commission) also suggest there is a high level of public trust in Ireland's elections. There were 1,426 survey respondents, 324 of which did not vote in the election. Of those who did not vote 37 per cent were not registered. The main reason registered voters gave for not voting was being away from home on polling day. This explanation was cited by 30 per cent of such registered non-voters. READ MORE A further 27 per cent blamed work commitments, while 9 per cent pointed to illness or disability. However, 12 per cent cited a disinterest in politics, and another 11 per cent said they were undecided about who to vote for. Some 6 per cent said their vote 'doesn't matter'. Together these three reasons accounted for 29 per cent of the registered non-voters surveyed. The Electoral Commission's chief executive Art O'Leary said the data highlights the value of the organisation's National Election and Democracy Study as an aid to learn more about the experience and perspectives of current and potential voters. 'We simply have to understand more about who non-voters are and why they are staying away from the polls,' he said in a statement, adding that the data will feed into other research projects and public engagement campaigns. The commission pointed to other results from the survey, saying: 'Encouragingly, at this challenging time for democracies globally the study indicates high levels of trust in the integrity of Ireland's elections.' The vast majority of respondents (94 per cent) agreed elections here are conducted per the law, while 88 per cent said they are well managed and that election officials are fair. All but 4 per cent of voters said they are confident their ballot papers were secret once they put then in the ballot box. The study separately suggests Irish voters are knowledgeable about aspects of the voting and democratic process. but the commission said there is also 'further work to be done'. Nine out of 10 of respondents understood that every one of their candidate preferences in Ireland's electoral system of proportional representation with a single transferable vote has the potential to count. However, just over a third of respondents (36 per cent) said information about voting procedures is not widely available, and 51 per cent mistakenly thought they needed their polling card to vote. The data for the commission's National Election and Democracy Study was collected between December 2024, and February 2025.
Irish Times
14-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Half of small firms not prepared for auto pension enrolment, says Irish Life
Half of Irish companies with fewer than 50 employees are not prepared at all for the introduction of automatic pension enrolment, even though they are more concerned than larger firms about the impact of the regime, according to a survey by research firm Red C for Irish Life. The finding comes as the Government decided last month to postpone the launch of the auto-enrolment (AE) regime again, this time by three months to the start of January 2026. The recent survey of 150 companies found, however, that three-quarters of larger companies have put work into considering the regime and the approach they plan to take, Irish Life said. Many intend to nudge AE-eligible employees towards their own defined-contribution (DC) pension plans or include clauses in contracts for new employees that would compel them to join company schemes, according to Shane O'Farrell, Irish Life's director of workplace markets and employer solutions. READ MORE 'It's clear that a lot of smaller organisations have not yet thought about AE. It's going to end up being a budgeting shock for them if they don't engage with this,' said Mr O'Farrell, noting the survey has shown that small firms remain more concerned about the effects of AE on their business than larger ones. Will DoorDash takeover of Deliveroo mean better pay and conditions for gig economy workers? Listen | 28:33 The Department of Social Protection has in recent weeks launched a search for a chief executive of the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (Nearsa), which will oversee the administration of the AE scheme. The appointee to the €215,000-a-year role will be expected to 'bring vision, strategic leadership and effective management across all the functions of the Nearsa in order to ensure that it discharges its functions efficiently and effectively to the benefit of its estimated 800,000 participants and Irish society more generally,' according to an information booklet for candidates. May 29th has been set as the closing date for applications. The AE scheme will be known as My Future Fund. It is expected it will hold more than €20 billion of assets on behalf of beneficiaries within 10 years, rising potentially to more than €300 billion over 30-40 years, according to the booklet. First proposed by then government Fianna Fáil minister Séamus Brennan in 2006, AE has been through years of delays and false dawns. However, enabling legislation was finally enacted last July and Indian group Tata Consultancy Services was signed up in October to build and run the AE system. The department is in the middle of procuring three investment managers to handle the assets in the fund. Under the terms of the Irish scheme, which applies to workers aged between 23 and 60 who earn at least €20,000 per annum across one or more jobs, employers and employees will each initially contribute 1.5 per cent of gross earnings to their pension pot, with the government adding a further 0.5 per cent. The contributions are due to increase in stages over 10 years, reaching 6 per cent, 6 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively.
Irish Times
01-05-2025
- Irish Times
View that child sex abuse is a thing of the past ‘has allowed it to persist', says charity
Child sexual abuse is not an individual or historical issue but a systemic challenge that demands collective action, a new report from the support charity One in Four highlights. A Red C poll commissioned by the organisation found that 91 per of people believe Irish society has failed to address the issue, while 94 per cent acknowledge its serious impact on wellbeing and development. The attitudinal research funded by Community Foundation Ireland is the first of its kind in relation to child sexual abuse. The report states that child sexual abuse cannot continue to be viewed as 'something confined to the past or to certain institutions'. READ MORE 'It is happening today, in homes, schools, sports clubs, peer to peer and increasingly, through online spaces,' it states. 'Our collective inability to confront this uncomfortable reality has allowed it to persist, causing immeasurable harm.' It states that the current key barriers relate to 'invisibility, collapsing boundaries and explosiveness'. Invisibility refers to how abuse often happens out of sight and is rarely talked about. Survivors feel alone, and families and communities sometimes look away rather than face the reality, the report says. In terms of collapsing boundaries, the usual protections at home, in school and online are breaking down and social media and technology are making it easier for abuse to happen anywhere. Explosiveness refers to the idea that 'this topic is so emotional and overwhelming that people often avoid it or focus on the most shocking cases, instead of working towards real solutions', it adds. [ 'Their childhood stopped the day the abuse started': Almost 2,400 allegations of abuse in religious run-schools Opens in new window ] The principal recommendation of the report is for a preventive public health framework – acting at every level across society, before harm occurs. This starts with primary prevention: providing universal education across society in understanding healthy boundaries and the root causes of child sexual abuse. Secondary prevention focuses on recognising early warning signs and stepping in quickly to support those at risk, the report states. Deirdre Kenny, One in Four chief executive Deirdre Kenny, chief executive of One in Four, said the organisation witnessed every day 'the resilience it takes for survivors to come forward and the pain caused by silence and denial'. Report researcher Dr Karen Hand said: 'There is no ambiguity around the evidence that child sexual violence remains a key issue for Irish society and many of today's young people are having unwanted sexual experiences in person and online. 'Global best practice highlights that a preventive public health approach can ensure that every child and young person in Ireland is safe, supported and empowered.'
Business Post
29-04-2025
- Business
- Business Post
Red C: More than three-quarters of Irish consumers believe the economy will deteriorate
Economy Red C: More than three-quarters of Irish consumers believe the economy will deteriorate Just 4 per cent of respondents believe the economy will improve, with 82 per cent thinking it will deteriorate Fionn Thompson 18:02 The latest Red C poll reveals that the majority of Irish consumers are downbeat over the prospects of the economy. Picture: Getty
